13 Jun, 2023
Sir John Soane designed Pitzhanger as his country house between 1800-1804 to create a showcase for his architectural skills, as well as his growing collection of artefacts. It soon became his elegant stage set for the entertainment of friends, celebrities and potential clients: he threw grand garden parties and held fascinating dinners for the beau monde of the time. Guests included the artist JMW Turner, a fellow academician, with whom Soane enjoyed fishing in the lake at Pitzhanger, and numerous other personalities from the worlds of finance, politics, theatre, journalism and literature.
13 Jun, 2023
The gardens and grounds of Orleans House were ceremoniously transformed and reconfigured by each occupant of the 18th century house. As the estate expanded down to the river and up towards Richmond Road, the gardens saw orchards, grottos, ice houses, formal planting and wild woodland.
15 Jun, 2023
Speakers from two famous West London properties explore the relationships of love, politics and ultimately power and ponder the question of whether love is indeed ‘treacherous’.
14 Feb, 2025
In this talk Ed Harris describes how the Twickenham Museum and other local properties benefitted from the Twining family’s Victorian principle of philanthropic intent with capitalist return
12 Jun, 2023
Jonathan Roson from the art collective Alice in Hackneyland talks about his work, ‘The Fluorescent Banquet’, which was commissioned in 2020 to celebrate 300 years of the Octagon Room.
The work and Jonathan’s talk explore centuries of feasting at Orleans House Gallery, the complex relationships entwined within its history, and its significance today.
